Between 21 and 23 April, a suspected pirate gang attacked one Korean and one Spanish fishing vessels off the Somali coast, before being apprehended by EU NAVFOR Atalanta. These were the first attempted pirate attacks off the Horn of Africa since October last year. The suspected pirates hijacked a Yemeni dhow on 19 April and…

The in-depth analysis elaborated by the European Parliamentary Research Service (EPRS) was divulgated at the occasion of the High-Level Conference on Oceans that took place in Brussels on 19 March 2019. The paper addresses the most pressing challenges in relation to maritime security: piracy and armed robbery at sea. Africa is particularly vulnerable to these…

During the last years, the stability of the Somali territory and waters has been a priority of the EU Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP). In December 2018, the EU naval Operation Atalanta (EU NAVFOR) celebrated 10 years of deployment. While EU NAVFOR contributes in fighting piracy at sea, civilian and military missions on the…

The official launch of IORIS took place at the Eden Blue Hotel in Mahé, Seychelles, in the morning of 4 September. During the launch, CRIMARIO experts provided a thorough description and explanation of the creation, development and use of the IORIS platform. Initiated by CRIMARIO, the new secure information sharing and incident management tool will…

On behalf of DG DEVCO B5 the CRIMSON project organised on 21 June, in Brussels, the presentation of the Report ‘’EU Maritime Security Programming: a mapping and technical review of past and present EU initiatives’’. The study, developed in the framework of CRIMSON, aimed to acquire information on past and existing EU and non-EU initiatives…

The Ocean Beyond Piracy Report 2017 has been released on 23 May 2018 and offers a comprehensive assessment of the economic and human costs of piracy in East Africa, West Africa, Asia and Latin America and the Caribbean. The Report shows that, despite the actions taken to counter piracy, it still poses a serious threat…

According to this AllAfrica article, four agreements pertaining to enhanced state coordination for maritime security in the western Indian Ocean were signed during a ministerial conference hosted by the Indian Ocean Commission (IOC) and the government of Mauritius, with the support of the European Union, an observer member of the IOC. The event was convened…

The development of the blue economy requires the control of crimes and incidents at sea. As a response, the EU CRIMARIO project advocates regional cooperation and interagency coordination, which are illustrated by this new training session dedicated to maritime data visualisation for 18 participants of Kenya and Madagascar (12-23 February 2018 in Mombasa). Data visualisation…

Europeans and Indians are both working towards similar objectives, including a rules-based order, cooperative multilateralism, and sustainable growth and stability in the Indian Ocean region. This article explains how the EU and India should move towards high-level strategic convergence, mentioning the CRIMARIO project. According to the article, Indian and European navies have operated side by…

In its March newsletter, the Contact Group on Piracy off the Coast of Somalia (CGPCS) reserved a great space to two CMR projects, CRIMARIO and CRIMLEA. The CGPCS is an international governance mechanism established in 2009 to facilitate the discussion and coordination of actions among states and organizations to suppress Somali piracy, hence sharing its…